By this time Tomorrow
by thor-you-oaf
Summary: <html><head></head>When Clint suddenly disappears without a trace, Natasha does everything she can to get him back. Putting the puzzle pieces together, she realizes that Clint is with Loki. Six months later when she finally tracks them down, Natasha learns the truth about what happened after Loki went back to Asgard, why Thor has been absent for a year, and just how pure Clint's heart really is.</html>
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**: _When Clint suddenly disappeared six months ago, Natasha dropped everything. Spending every waking moment using her prowess as notorious spy assassin, Natasha eventually latches on to Clint's whereabouts and is shocked when she realizes that he's with Loki, who was supposed to be locked up in Asgard never to see the light of day. After desperate attempts to contact Thor, Natasha gets no answer from the deity and turns her attention to tracking Clint and Loki's location and getting her partner back. But when she finally catches up to the two and sets up to kill the notorious foe, Nastasha is sucked into the life that Clint has been living for the past several months and soon discovers just what happened after Loki went back to Asgard, why Thor has been absent for so long, and just how pure Clint's heart really is._

* * *

><p><em><strong>~Prologue~<strong>_

Rain was splattering all over the room from the open window, where the wind was howling desperately outside and thunder clasped in the distance. The room had only been dimly lit by the weak light of the lamp on the desk, but each time lightning struck the entire room lit up, casting two long shadows along opposite sides of the room as two bodies stood opposing each other with hands outstretched holding pointed guns.

"You don't understand, Nat. Just put the gun down and we can talk about this."

Clint Barton held his loaded .22 pistol with a steady grip, refusing to falter under the intense glare of his best friend and unrequited love. Any other person would writher under the death stare of the notorious Black Widow, but after years of working together and being the one to bring her to where she was today, Natasha Romanov didn't even faze him. Especially not when her finger began to pull on the trigger.

"I'm not buying it, Clint. You've been gone for months and all this time you've been with _him_."

_I'm sorry, but I love you and I won't let you go through this again_ were the words that she wanted so desperately to say to him, but there was a lump in her throat. It was pointless, she knew, because he was under command. His mind was no longer his, it had been stolen once again from his grasp by the very man that he had been with for the past six months. Except Natasha knew that Clint had not gone willingly. She was sure that he hadn't even been threatened and had only come to protect someone. He'd been stolen, just like his own free will and that's why she had to do this.

"I'm sorry, Clint… but you'll forgive me one day."

Closing her tear filled eyes, Natasha pulled back the trigger just as Clint fearfully yelled, "Natasha, _no!_"

There was a pain filled shriek, a loud bang, and all of a sudden it felt like the world had gone black and all the oxygen had been sucked away. She tried to gasp but there was nothing to fill her lungs and just as she was about to think that this was death, or perhaps her mind too was being taken, everything returned to normal. Her lungs filled with oxygen and her heart pumped sporadically; she opened her eyes. There was no howling wind or freezing rain of the October storm. The thunder had suddenly passed and there were no strikes of lightening lighting up the small apartment room. In fact, the apartment was gone and after blinking a few times to make sure this was real, Natasha found herself standing in the middle of the forest.

Before she could register what was going on, her attention was suddenly caught when she heard a terrified sob a few feet behind her. Whirling around, her eyes widened when she saw Clint kneeling down on the dirt consoling a weeping, _bleeding _–

"You shot him! I can't believe you shot him!" Clint exclaimed, looking at her scandalized.

Natasha dropped open her mouth in disbelief that she was being accused as if she had done something wrong. This certainly did not seem right, not at all. "Of course I shot him, Clint! He fucking brainwashed and kidnapped you _again!_"

Wrapping his arms around the shaking, injured figure, Clint sighed loudly and narrowed his eyes."For the last time, Nat, Loki didn't brainwash me! If anything someone brainwashed him. I don't know what happened to him, but he's been hurt and I think he's got braindamage. He's got the mindset of an infant."


	2. Chapter 2

If anyone had told him as a child that he would grow up to be a hero, like the kind he'd read about in comic books, Clint knew that he wouldn't have believed them. Growing up he had been nothing but trailer park trash and eventually a circus kid. People like him didn't grow up to be anything more than the trash they were born into. Yet here he was, present day, and there were kids that idolized him. Maybe they weren't idolizing Clint Barton, but they certainly were idolizing Hawkeye and calling him a hero worthy of a comic book. That was why Clint got out of bed each morning; because he knew that he brought peace and good will to the world.

So after returning only days prior from a two month long mission in Siberia, Clint didn't feel too guilty about having a lie-in in the morning knowing that he just stopped a rebel group from shipping a cargo full of bombs to an unsuspecting country. He did something good and now he was being rewarded with the week off, and he was taking full advantage of it too.

Staying up late to catch up on all the shows that he'd missed, exclusively eating only take out and maple pastries from the bakery around the corner, abusing his sweat pants and hoodies, savoring in the wonderfulness that was hot water and personal hygiene, and spending hours in central park sitting on the bench people watching and doing absolutely nothing else. The time was his and he did what he wanted: relax. But after two days he was already restless and itching to get back to work. However, he wasn't just going to give up his free time, not when it was such a rarity.

_I wander what Tasha is up to_, Clint mused as he watched a group of teenage boys approach a pretty, brunette that looked no older than fourteen. They could flirt all they wanted but if they started harassing her then he would go over and kick their asses. _I wish whatever mission that she's on ends soon. I hope it's something more exciting than hiding out in jungle outskirts of Siberia. She would have died of boredom._

In the moment that he looked down at his phone to check for any new messages, the girl had disappeared along with the group of boys. Clint frowned deeply and stood up, looking around the park for any sign of the kids. Call it a gut instinct but he had a feeling that this girl was going to regret going with them at all, if she had even agreed to it in the first place. Wanting to make sure she was okay, Clint abandoned his bench and began treading down the sidewalk towards the park entrance. Before he could make it very far there was a loud shriek that filled the air and he stopped dead in his tracks. Eyes whizzing around for the source of the scream, he relaxed instantly when he saw that it was just a little girl that had fallen off her bike. No other adult seemed to be paying her wailing any mind and Clint knew that if he approached her someone was going to call him out for being a pedophile.

_She's hurt and you're a super hero. Go save the little girl._

Jogging over to her, Clint knelt down and reached out to pry her little hands off her knee, which had been scraped and was now bleeding down her leg. It was nothing deep but he knew that it probably hurt a lot and it was the blood that was scaring her.

"Hey, sweetie, you're okay. Is your momma or daddy anywhere by?" He asked her, reaching into his pocket where he had a napkin from breakfast. Folding it neatly, he pressed it to her knee as she lifted her hand a pointed behind Clint and when he looked he saw a furiously looking woman marching straight towards him and instantly regretted coming over at all.

"You pedophile! Get away from my daughter or I'll call the police! If you hurt her I swear you'll be facing a lawsuit from hell!" She screeched, causing several bystanders to turn and stare at the scene.

Backing off instantly, Clint shot her a look before turning and leaving the park. The blonde girl was gone, the little girl was getting help, and his day at the park was over. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Clint sighed tiredly and began to head back to his apartment. Although he loved to people watch, he much preferred to be alone in his own home or at the very least surrounded by the people he loved. Unfortunately Natasha was unreachable, Coulson refused to pick up the phone, and the rest of his teammates were scattered across the country and galaxy.

_I guess I'll just start a new series. Maybe I'll find a book to read. Who am I kidding, I hate reading. TV it is. Oh joy, _he mused to himself sullenly as he walked past his favorite bakery. He paused in front of the glass window and watched as the elderly man placed a tray of brownies in the display case and decided that maybe he needed some chocolate to make his day better. Grinning lightly, he stepped towards the door and reached for the handle, but just as he was pulling it open there was something in the reflection across the street, some_one _that looked vaguely familiar through the blurred reflection. A tingling feeling crawled up his spine and Clint turned around to see if he could get a better look at whoever it was.

His blood ran cold and his eyes narrowed into slits as his hand instinctively reached for his bow and arrow that were not there. Of course the person looked familiar – it was _Loki_.


	3. Chapter 3

If ever in his life had there been a moment where on one shoulder there was a little angel sitting and on the other a bitty devil it was now. Except Clint wasn't seeing an angel and a devil, he was seeing a miniature Natasha and Thor and as he stared in the reflection of the bakery door, both of them were telling him two very different things.

"Go after him," Devil Natasha said darkly. "Kill him, Clint, quickly before he gets away."

"No, you can't kill him!" Angel Thor argued staring at Clint with wide, pleading eyes. "That's my brother and I love him. Please, friend. Don't kill my brother."

"You have to kill him," Natasha urged him, sending Thor a dirty look. "He killed Coulson. He killed over one hundred people. He made you his puppet! Get revenge. Avenge those who were wronged by the monster."

"That's my brother," Thor whispered pleadingly.

Clint blinked and they were gone. The roaring sound of traffic filled his ears and when he turned around to see if Loki was still standing on the other side of the crossway their eyes met. A rage boiled in the pit of his stomach that was being fueled by the sudden need to kill. Angel Natasha had made a very clear point and he could easily take the change to run across the street and shoot Loki straight in the heart; he had a small gun in his pocket that he carried around. On the other hand, Thor's voice was still in the back of his mind begging him not to kill Loki. Although he hadn't seen the alien in quite some time, Clint liked Thor a lot. They were buddies and buddies don't kill each other's brothers even if they are mass murdering lunatics.

But as he stood there with eyes locked on Loki, Clint was at a loss what to do. In the end society as a whole is greater than one individual and he couldn't let innocent lives be at stake just for the sake of friendship so he pushed away Thor's voice and patted his pocket for the handgun. Confirming that it was indeed there, Clint took off running as fast as he could. He darted past cars in the street that honked as he passed by. Pedestrians were yelling at him as if he was the criminal but even so he kept up his pace and the second he began to enclose on Loki the bastard turned and ran.

He couldn't yell; it would only attract more attention and he didn't want civilians getting in the way. There was no time to contact SHIELD for backup but he was sure that any minute now the helicarrier would pick up the situation by one of the surveillance crew members. Besides, Clint was confident that he could hand this by himself. He wanted to. There was nobody else besides him that deserved this kill.

_Faster, faster, faster! He's getting away, go faster!_

His hand itched for his arrows and was making its way to his pocket for the handgun but he knew that he couldn't whip it out. There was too much risk of hitting someone and although Fury would yell at him and say that there will always be casualties, Clint was never one to harm innocents who got in the way no matter what; he'd just have to run faster.

It almost seemed too easy, though.

The way Loki was running, bumping into people and buildings and anything else in the way didn't seem quite right. He kept glancing back and stumbling once he turned back around as if he didn't know where he was going or what on Earth he was even doing. It seemed as if he didn't realize he was about to run straight into the high path bridge where there was a bus heading straight. Apparently he didn't because he ran straight into the street and just as the bus was about to hit him, it suddenly hit the brakes. A piercing shriek filled the air and screams came from all around and it was just enough of distraction to Loki that Clint finally caught up and tackled him to the ground roughly.

But just as he heard Loki's skull hit the street and bounce off the world went black and all the oxygen was sucked out of his lungs. The adrenaline rush must have caught up with him because he blinked and a second later everything was alright. The blood was rushing through his ears, blocking out the sounds around him. Back with reality, Clint had his hands clutched around Loki's neck tightly.

"You have three seconds to tell me what the fuck you're doing here!" He yelled angrily, staring with seething eyes at the deity. He ignored the fact that there were tears streaming down Loki's face and he was gasping for air, clutching his hand as if it were hurt. He didn't pay mind to the fact that Loki was staring at him with the most hurt and confused look he'd ever seen. Because he knew that this was just a façade, just a pathetic ploy that wasn't going to work for him. Surely Loki knew that he would never fall for the pity act; after all, he had been in every corner of his mind.

"Talk, you bastard!" Clint urged when Loki continued to cry hysterically. He growled angrily and leaned forward to put more pressure around Loki's neck but that only resulted in gasps for air instead of answers. Pulling back in disgust, Clint punched Loki before standing up and glaring at him. "Cut the shit, Loki. I didn't even hurt you that much," he spat.

Loki merely rolled over and curled into a ball as he continued howling with tears of pain. Clint scoffed and crossed his arms as the anger began to subside and was replaced with utter annoyance at the scene in front of him. If Loki was going for the pity act it wasn't working. If anything it was sickeningly embarrassing for both of them.

Sighing irritably, Clint dropped his arms and looked around to see if SHIELD was around yet scoping out the situation. Only then did he realize that there were no busy streets of people, no towering buildings, and no noise of traffic. There was no city at all but rather vast fields of farm land and a sky full of grey clouds.

"What the _fuck_."


End file.
